Tuesday, December 30, 2014

A dish that is always seen in a typical South Indian restaurant menu. This dish has always been a favourite among kids as well adults, something that is always ordered as a starter or side dish. The story behind how this dish got its name has many versions, as well as the way how this dish is made also has many versions. The weather here now leaves us with the craving to eat something hot and spicy. So gave a try to this spicy and juicy chicken dish. I have used yoghurt in this recipe, but I feel lemon juice or vinegar could have also been used instead of yoghurt, that would have been equally good too. You can try it that way too!A perfect starter, this can be added to your New Year party menu:)IngredientsFor marination
1/2 kg boneless chicken cut into small cubes
1 Tbsp ginger- garlic paste
1 Tbsp kashmiri chilli powder
1 Tbsp crushed black pepper
2 Tbsp corn flour
1 egg beaten well
a pinch of red food colour(optional)-(I didn't use)
saltFor the masala
1 cup yoghurt
few curry leaves
2-3 green chillies slit
1/2 tsp crushed red chillies
1 Tbsp ginger- garlic paste
2 Tbsp tomato ketchup
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp garam masala powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
2-3 sprigs of spring onion, chopped for garnishing
salt to taste
oil for frying

Method

Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients under marination and keep it overnight in the refrigerator or at least for 3-4 hours.

Fry the chicken pieces in hot oil until dark red in colour and keep aside, drained onto a kitchen towel to absorb the excess oil.

In another pan, heat approximately 2 Tbsp oil. Add the mustard and cumin seeds. Once it splutters add the curry leaves too.

Now add the ginger-garlic paste, crushed red pepper and fry for a second. Remove the pan from the flame and add the yoghurt and tomato ketchup. Mix well and return it back to the flame.

Add the fried chicken pieces and mix well.

Add the green chillies, garam masala powder and cumin powder. Check salt and add as required(as there is already salt added to the fried chicken).

Cook till the masala is fully absorbed by the chicken and it becomes dry.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Merry Christmas to all ! Won't your Christmas be incomplete without a classic Christmas cake on the table? If there is no time left for a traditional Christmas cake that involves the months long procedure of soaking the fruits and nuts in rum, preparation of the caramel syrup etc, you can give a try to this simple fruit cake that can be made easily without rum or juice, not even eggs. What more this doesn't even require a beater to whip up the ingredients. If not for Christmas this cake is perfect for tea time too.

In a saucepan place the mixed fruits and nuts, sugar, butter, tea and allspice powder. Heat until the butter melts, stirring occasionally.

Bring it to a boil. Allow it to boil for 1 minute. Then remove from heat and add the orange zest. Mix and set aside. Leave this overnight.

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius. Grease and line a 6 or 7 inch baking pan.

Fold the sifted flour into the fruit mixture. Mix gently then pour it to the prepared baking pan and bake in the oven for 50- 55 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven and brush the top of the cake with warm honey.You can also place some ccaramelized nuts on top.

Leave it to cool completely and then turn out and serve in slices and enjoy.

Saturday, December 13, 2014

An aromatic biriyani cooked in a pressure cooker wherein the rice is cooked with the chicken infused with the richness of coconut milk and spices. This biriyani was bookmarked in my to make list since a long time, finally made it as per the recipe in my dear friend Rafee's blog. She has got an amazing collection of biriyanis and moreover each recipe I have tried out from her place was absolutely lip-smacking.

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Method
Wash matta rice 3-4 times in water and drain.
Heat a non stick pan and add rice to it.
Stir on medium flame for 15 -20 minutes until the rice pops up.
Turn off the flame and allow it to cool.
In the same pan dry roast cashew nuts on low flame until the colour changes to light brown.
Grind the roasted rice and cashew nuts to a coarse powder.
In a bowl,add rice,cashew nuts,coconut,jaggery,cardamom powder and salt.
Mix everything well with hands and make small balls out of it and serve.

Blend the bread pieces with semolina, yogurt, atta and salt, by adding little water into a smooth and thick batter.

Transfer the batter to a bowl and add the onion, green chilli, jeera, carrot, ginger and coriander leaves.(You can also add chopped tomatoes and capsicum)

Mix the batter well. The consistency of the batter should be neither too thick nor too thin. It should be a semi thick batter.

Heat a skillet and grease it lightly. Pour a laddle full of the batter and spread it into the consistency of a thick pancake.

Drizzle some oil around the uthappam and allow it to cook on a low flame for about two minutes.(You can cover and cook to ensure even cooking). Open and flip over to cook the other side too for about two minutes.

The uthappam should be golden browned on both sides.

Serve these uthappams with coconut chutney or coriander chutney.

Recipe adapted from here( with some changes by me) and inspired by my friend Reshmi. Thankyou Reshmi for that inspiration.

Thursday, October 09, 2014

This beautiful and aromatice traditional biriyani was actually scheduled to be posted during the Eid holidays. But somehow it got delayed due to some engagements. Anyhow as it said ' better late than never'.

Now this recipe was shared to me by my little one's classmate's mom Zara. Thankyou Zara for sharing this authentic dish of your place. It was really yummy! The smell that lingers in your home when this biriyani is getting cooked is really droolworthy. So off to the recipe of HYDERABADI DUM BIRIYANI- Kachi style i.e the uncooked meat is cooked along with the rice.

Add washed and drained rice to the boiling water and cook for just 5 minutes.( The rice grain should break into two pieces when pressed with the end of your thumb i.e. just 1/4 cooked). Drain the rice and keep aside.

Crush the fried onions with your hands and add it to the marinated chicken.

Take a heavy bottomed big vessel and pour 1/4 cup oil and layer the marinated chicken at the bottom of the vessel.

Layer the rice on top the chicken.

Sprinkle the top of the rice with chopped mint and coriander leaves.

Drizzle the ghee, lemon juice and saffron milk mixture on top.

Close the vessel with a tight lid. Seal the edges with a dough made of maida/wheat flour+water (or you can even seal it tightly with aluminium foil).

Cook this on very low heat for 20 minutes. Once you start to get the aroma increase the flame to medium low and cook for 5 minutes more. Switch off and relish the beautiful aroma that engulfs you as you open the dum.

* The same recipe can be done with mutton too. The only variation is the cooking time. Mutton will take approximately 45 minutes to get cooked and moreover tender mutton must be used.

Melt the jaggery in little water and strain to remove the impurities if any and keep it aside.

Add the grated coconut to the jaggery and cook until the jaggery is almost absorbed by the coconut.

Add the ghee , vanilla essence and mix well.

Add the ground almond little by little mixing well until you get the mixture into such a consistency that you can make small balls out of it and that it holds its shape.(You can grease your hands with a little ghee to prevent the mixture from sticking onto your hands)

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

September has been a festive month with Onam and over here Onam celebrations continue until the next festival pops up and that probably is going to be Eid which is almost round the corner now.

Sweet indulgence has also increased with the increase in celebrations. It was just as we were planning to cut short the sugar intake when Aara of Sweets & Spices asked whether we can do a guest post for her lovely blog. Now, for a sweet person like her who runs a blog with again a sweet in its name, we had to definitely make a sweet dish. Now, as I mentioned sweet cravings are always there but then just to justify ourselves we decided to do a 'payasam' with the staple food of today - "the humble oats".

Thankyou Aara for making us feel so special. Please hop on to Aara's space for the recipe of

Cook the onion chunks in boiling water until translucent. Drain from the water and cool. Once cooled grind the onions with the coriander leaves into a smooth paste.

Heat oil in wok and add the cumin seeds, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and peppercorns. Saute for a few seconds and then add the green chillies(chopped fine), ginger paste and garlic paste. Fry for a few minutes or until the raw smell of garlic n ginger goes off.

Now add the onion and coriander paste and saute well until oil starts to separate from the sides.

Now add the turmeric powder, coriander powder, salt and fry for a minute.

Remove the wok from the flame and add the yoghurt and mix well. Add one cup of water too, mix well and return back to flame.

Cook on a medium low flame for a few minutes. Add the mushrooms and mix well.

Add the cumin powder and fresh cream. Mix well and cook for 5-6 minutes or until the mushrooms are cooked.